In its 36th year of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, The Gatorade
Company today announced Matthew Hauser of Rock Bridge High School as its 2020-21 Gatorade Missouri Boys
Cross Country Player of the Year. Hauser is the first Gatorade Missouri Boys Cross Country Player of the Year to be
chosen from Rock Bridge High School.
The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic
achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Hauser as Missouri's best
high school boys cross country player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Player
of the Year award to be announced in April, Hauser joins an elite alumni association of state award-winners in 12
sports, including Lukas Verzbicas (2010-11, 2009-10 Carl Sandburg High School, Orland Park, Ill.), Megan Goethals
(2009-10, Rochester High School, Rochester Hills, Mich.), Jordan Hasay (2008-09, Mission College Preparatory
Catholic High School, San Luis Obispo, Calif.) and Chris Derrick (2007-08, Neuqua Valley High School, Naperville,
Ill.).
The 5-foot-9-inch, 135-pound senior distance talent led the Bruins to the team title at the MSHSAA Class 5 State XC
Championships this past season, breaking the tape with a time of 15:34.50-the fastest all-class clocking of the state
postseason. A three-time All-State selection, Hauser recorded a personal-best 5K of 15:12.45 to win the 17th Annual
Camdenton Laker XC Invitational en route to a 6-0 regular season meet record in head-to-head matchups. He also
finished 41st at the national XC Town USA Meet of Champions.
An active member of his church community at The Crossing, Hauser has volunteered on behalf of its youth group,
including completing mission work abroad constructing homes in low-income countries. "Matthew is a tremendous
runner," said Joe Porter, head coach at St. Louis University High. "What I think made him elite was his ability to win
races regardless of tactics. He could win a race off of a slow pace or he could push the pace from the gun. Either way,
he would find a way to be at the front when it mattered.
At the state meet, it became apparent early on that Matthew
was able to dictate the type of race he wanted to run because it was clear he was the best runner in the field. His move
with one kilometer to go was incredible to watch, and you knew he was going to continue to drop the rest of an elite
field pretty quickly and hold on to victory."
Hauser has maintained a 3.80 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to run on scholarship at
Kansas State University this fall.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the
50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys
and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each
sport.
The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which works with
top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine
the state winners in each sport.
Hauser joins recent Gatorade Missouri Boys Cross Country Players of the Year Wes Porter (2019-20, Rockhurst High
School), Christian Baker (2018-19, Kirkwood High School), Victor Mugeche (2017-18, Blue Springs High School), and
Austin Hindman (2016-17, Lafayette High School), among the state's list of former award winners.
Through Gatorade's cause marketing platform "Play it Forward," Hauser has the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to
a local or national youth sports organization of their choosing. Hauser is also eligible to submit a 30-second video
explaining why the organization they chose is deserving of one of twelve $10,000 spotlight grants, which will be
announced throughout the year. To date, Gatorade Player of the Year winners' grants have totaled more than $2.7
million across 1,117 organizations.
Since the program's inception in 1985, Gatorade Player of the Year award recipients have won hundreds of
professional and college championships, and many have also turned into pillars in their communities, becoming
coaches, business owners and educators.
